


To New (Beg)Innings

by TheRafflesRelics



Category: Raffles - E. W. Hornung
Genre: post-knees of the gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:19:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2858804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRafflesRelics/pseuds/TheRafflesRelics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bunny, now in a veterans' caring home, still grieves for Raffles, when a new acquaintance seduces him into a criminal adventure that leads him into the arms of an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To New (Beg)Innings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sootonthecarpet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sootonthecarpet/gifts).



It had been eighteen months and Bunny’s leg still thrummed with pain. However, it was nothing compared to the loss of his closest friend, his soul mate and his partner in crime, AJ Raffles.  
Raffles had fallen at Spion Kop. His final words “I’m not half sure –” still echoed in Bunny’s mind every time he closed his eyes.  
Half-sure about what? About going to war? About that fateful night on the Ides of March that had cemented their friendship for eternity?  
The only thing Bunny was entirely sure about was that he missed Raffles every day. When he woke up his first thought would be of that impish smile, that mischievous glint.  
Bunny couldn’t bear to watch cricket. No one would ever come even close to his famous amateur cricketer. Even walking through town broke Bunny’s heart. No more champagne parties, no more fancy dinners and no more diamonds, whose brilliant radiance had only ever been surpassed by Raffles’s rare smile.  
“Mr Manchester?”  
“Pardon?”  
Bunny looked up confused. The nurse – she was new at the veterans’ caring home – smiled at him politely.  
“Have you been day dreaming again, Mr Manchester?” she asked in her faint, maybe Italian accent. “By the look on your face I’d guess it was a woman. A long lost fiancée perhaps?”  
“No,” Bunny replied curtly.  
All the nurses, especially her, kept trying to push him into looking for a wife. But how could he? No one would ever compare to Raffles and the mere thought of being with anyone else seemed impossible to him.  
Except maybe the nurse who was still smiling at him wildly, with her flowing black hair and her sparkling brown eyes –  
No. He couldn’t afford to think like that. His heart, still broken from his loss of Raffles, would never heal again enough to love someone that fully again.  
“You’re so incredibly loyal, Mr Manchester.” The nurse sat down next to him. “May I tell you a secret?”  
Bunny nodded reluctantly, distracted by the way her eyes darted across the room, as if she expected spies to be hiding behind the potted plants.  
“Before I tell you my secret, I must make a confession,” she dropped her voice even lower. “I know who you are, Mr Manders.”  
“But…but how?” Bunny stammered.  
“Don’t worry. I won’t reveal your secret.”  
“How do you know?” he repeated more confidently.  
“I’ve heard all about you and your adventures with Mr Raffles.”  
“Raffles…he di-…at Spion Kop …he…”  
“I know.” She covered his hand with hers. “Considering your sad, lonely eyes, it wasn’t a difficult conclusion to make.”  
“I know he was a thief but…” Bunny swallowed hard. “He was a good man, brave, loyal; the greatest man I ever knew.”  
“I’m sure he was.” The nurse squeezed his hand. “Now my secret…It is very embarrassing and I’m appalled to have to take such drastic measures but I require your expertise.”  
“My expertise? No, no, no. I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. I’ve left this life behind me. Besides it was always Raffles who made the plans. I merely followed; often tumbling along like a fool.”  
“It would just be that once,” the nurse insisted. “My family wants to force me to marry this horrible old man, so I have to flee, you see?”  
“I agree no one should be forced into a marriage against their will but –”  
“I only need £100. It’ll be enough to get me to the continent. From there I can earn my money as I travel.”  
“£100!”  
“The director of the caring home has at least £100 at the end of each month in his safe.”  
“Today’s the last of the month.”  
The nurse shrugged. “I didn’t want you to get cold feet.”  
“But that leaves no time for planning!”  
“Not much, I grant, but the plan is already made.”  
“By who?”  
“By me.”  
For a moment Bunny’s heart skipped. The nurse’s smirk was so akin to Raffles’s, he thought for a moment he saw him in her.  
“What is your plan?”  
“Very simple. I’ll offer the director a glass of fine whisky, curtsey of one of the veterans. The whisky will of course be drugged with sleeping pills. Once he has fallen asleep – something which apparently occurs rather frequently anyway, I’ll open the safe. The code, I’ve learnt, should be the director’s son’s birthday.”  
“I still don’t see how you need my help.”  
“I’ll need you to call me a cab. You’ll just say you want to visit an old friend who’s in town and I’ll jump into the cab with my suitcase at the last moment. What do you say, Mr Manders?”  
A gorgeous woman, brave, independent and the genius of the likes of Raffles, Bunny simply couldn’t resist.  
She held out her hand. “Partners in crime?”  
Bunny shook her hand without further hesitations.  
As, Bunny sat in the lounge this night he felt more alive than he had since the last time he had held Raffles in his arms. Sitting in his room a glass of whisky in his hand, he reminisced about the many times he had stayed up, waiting for Raffles to call him.  
Ever so often however his thoughts would drift to the pretty Italian nurse, wondering how she was faring. Had she drugged the director yet? Had she opened the safe?  
Thump. Thump. Thump.  
Three quick knocks. That was the signal. Bunny left his room, his gait the smoothest since he had been shot and hurried down to the porter.  
The ordered cab arrived only five minutes later. No sign of the pretty nurse though. Bunny limped deliberately slowly to the cab and took his time taking a seat. While the driver looked miffed, no one would ever yell at a wounded veteran for suffering from their injuries.  
“Are we ready to leave?” the driver prompted.  
“Well…”  
“I’m here,” the nurse’s soft voice lilted. “I just need to put my luggage into the trunk.”  
Unsurprisingly the driver was much quicker to help a beauty like her than Bunny.  
She slid into the seat next to Bunny. His heart warmed upon seeing that radiant smile on her face.  
“We’ve done it, my dear,” she whispered. “We are free.”  
Bunny gave her a weak smile in return. He was sad to see her go. Life in the veteran’s caring home was boring and depressive. An adventure like this however, came close to the elation he had felt with Raffles once upon a time.  
“Paddington Station,” the driver announced.  
He helped the nurse out of the cab and handed her not only her luggage but also his card, insisting she should call him whenever she liked.  
Bunny turned his gaze away. He was well aware the un-gentlemanly phrasing of the driver’s offer wasn’t the only reason he was appalled by this interaction. He glanced at the nurse from the corner of his eye. She looked insulted. Bunny let out a small breath of relief. The driver left and the nurse linked her arm with his.  
“Will you accompany me to my train, Mr Manders?”  
“Of course,” he replied. “Where will you be going? Wait, don’t tell me. It’s safer for you if I don’t know. Then I can’t give anything away by accident.”  
“Oh Mr –”  
“Stop right here, Mr Manders, Miss.”  
Bunny’s heart stopped. That accent, that tone of speech – there was only one Scottish man like that in London.  
Bunny tried to make out the person’s face beneath the high collar of the old-fashioned Inverness cape and the hat drawn into his face; a futile mission. Nonetheless, he was sure in his suspicion.  
“Inspector Mackenzie?” Bunny gasped.  
“The verra same,” the figure replied. “I am arresting you for the theft of £100 from the safe of the director at St Agnes’ Veterans’ Caring Home.”  
“Inspector, arrest me, if you will,” Bunny said. “But let her go. She is innocent in all of this.”  
“Was it not her then who took the money from the safe?”  
“Yes, but only because…because I blackmailed her into doing it.”  
“I see. Nevertheless, we’ll need to discuss this at the station. Now will you come quietly or do I need to make use of my handcuffs?”  
Calmed by a nod from the nurse, Bunny followed Mackenzie who led them outside the station with a strong grip on Bunny’s arm.  
Mackenzie unlocked the door of one of the cars and pushed Bunny in.  
“Miss, can you drive?”  
She nodded.  
“Splendid. I’m sick of directing these modern inventions myself.” Mackenzie dropped the keys into her hands, before sliding into the seat next to Bunny. “I assume you know how to get to New Scotland Yard?”  
“Sí.”  
“Then let’s go.”  
Bunny stared miserably out of the window.  
“I cannot blame you, Inspector. I suppose it was always meant to end like this.”  
Bunny whirled around and watched in awe as Mackenzie took off his hat and cape, revealing the surprising person underneath.  
“AJ,” Bunny exclaimed as he lunged into Raffles’s outstretched arms.  
“Of course we were always meant to be reunited, my dear rabbit, don’t you agree?”  
“Oh, AJ. How? I thought you were dead. I held you in my arms as you were dying.”  
“And I was the closest to death that I’ve ever been then. But you’ll also remember that you soon fainted from the blood loss of your wound as well. I was lucky I was put in the care of a nurse who recognized me and moved heaven and earth to ensure I survived.”  
“Her?”  
The nurse smiled at him through the rear window. “My name is Faustina.”  
“But Raffles told me you were killed.”  
“And I would have been, had Raffles not helped me escape.”  
“And Faustina helped me in return. She nursed me back to health and helped me locate and whisk you away.”  
“Away to where?”  
“Wherever we want to go, my dear rabbit.” Raffles handed him a flask. “That flash is pure silver by the way. I stole it for you in Paris. Go on, take a sip. Nothing but the best whisky for my dearest friend.”  
Bunny had to agree it was one of the finest whiskies he had ever tasted.  
“Now, Bunny,” Raffles said. “Will you come with Faustina and me?”  
“Oh, AJ. I’ve followed you into wars. Do you really think I would abandon you now?”  
“Of course not.” Raffles squeezed Bunny’s hand. “Always the sporting rabbit, loyal to the end.”  
“Where are we going then?”  
“Well,” Faustina piped in from the front. “I’ve heard Sweden is quite nice around this time of year.”  
“And so is its jewels,” Raffles smirked and raised his glass. “To new beginnings?”  
Bunny clinked his flask against his. “To new innings.”


End file.
